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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23712184">Monsters</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/evilwriter37/pseuds/evilwriter37'>evilwriter37</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Blood, Experimentation, Gen, Torture, Vivisection, Whump, krel!whump</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 21:08:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,946</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23712184</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/evilwriter37/pseuds/evilwriter37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Krel doesn't escape Area 49-B and is subject to torturous experimentation.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aja Tarron &amp; Krel Tarron</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>68</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Monsters</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Krel awoke to the sound of metal clattering on plastic. He groaned, opened his eyes, trying to figure out what was going on, or remember what exactly had happened. He and the others had raided Area 49-B, and… and what? He’d lost consciousness. Now where was he? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>On a metal table, each of his four arms restrained, his ankle restrained as well. There was a strap of leather in his mouth that secured his head to the table. He hadn’t made it out. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now in a panic, Krel searched around. He saw men and women in white coats and aprons. There was a table of horrifying, metal tools right next to him. He tried to make a sound, but the leather strap worked as a gag. He struggled against his bonds, but they were tight. He realized that he was only in his pants, the rest of his clothing having been removed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Seklos and Gaylen, what are they going to do to me?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The door opened, and Krel wished he could turn his head to see who it was. But then a face was looming over him, a familiar face that he decided he didn’t like. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, this is going to be unpleasant to be awake for,” Colonel Kubritz said. That urged Krel to fight against his bonds again. If he could just get </span>
  <em>
    <span>out! </span>
  </em>
  <span>Well, what would he do if he got out? He didn’t have his serrator. He was helpless. Krel looked at Kubritz with fire in his eyes, and a question: Where was Aja?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kubritz seemed to be able to read his expression. “Don’t worry. We only got you.” She sounded upset when she said it, and of course she was. She’d wanted all of them for experimentation. That’s what was going to happen to Krel. And by the sound of it, it was going to be painful. Fear was a cold pit in his stomach. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Krel had become so focused on Colonel Kubritz that he hadn’t even noticed what the people in the white coats were doing. He gasped as a needle went into his top left arm. He couldn’t help but look, saw that they were drawing his blood. Kubritz and the white coat people watched in fascination as it left his body and entered the vial. Krel had seen his own blood before of course, during accidents from inventing, sometimes cutting himself on sharp pieces of metal. These people had never seen the radiant cyan liquid before. There were gasps and murmurs among them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>One vial didn’t seem to be enough though. They took 8 and Krel was feeling woozy and like he needed a drink by the time it was over. He knew this wasn’t the only thing that was going to happen to him though. No, this was going to get much worse. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Krel made a muffled sound through the gag as the needle was withdrawn. His eyes flitted to the metal tools near him, panicked. But maybe if he got out, he could use those against them. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kubritz saw his gaze, laughed. “You’re not going to get out, Tarron. You may have gotten in under my watch, but there’s no leaving here.” She leaned over him, picked up a scalpel, and handed it to one of the people in white coats. “I think I’ll enjoy watching this next bit.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Krel yelled in pain as the scalpel cut into one of his arms. It was such a small tool, but so incredibly sharp. Bright blue blood ran. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He closed his eyes, unable to watch what they were doing. It felt like they were removing some of his skin, probably to test later. Kleb, it hurt! He wanted to struggle, but also didn’t want the scalpel to slip, so he remained still. Tears formed in his eyes. In all his fifteen years of life, Krel had never felt something like this. He’d never had pieces of him be picked apart and scrutinized like he was some sort of foreign subject. And to these people, that’s exactly what he was. He wasn’t human, so they saw no wrong in doing this to him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They weren’t done with the scalpel. Krel couldn’t help looking as it hovered above his chest. He tried to meet the eyes of the man holding it, to find some humanity there, but he was entirely focused on what he was doing. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It cut deep. Krel screamed, pulled on the leather cuffs restraining him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kubritz put a hand on one of his arms. “Don’t struggle. If they mess up, this will only hurt more.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Krel screamed in not just pain, but anger. He glared at her, tears rolling down his face. She reached down to touch one of the droplets. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hm, you can cry. Interesting.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They sliced and they sliced, all the way down to his pelvis. Krel realized in horror that they were cutting him open to see what he had inside. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>No, no, no! </span>
  </em>
  <span>He tried yelling that through the gag, but words wouldn’t come. He tried to twist his head, but it was stuck in this position, leaving him staring straight up at the ceiling, his vision blurred by tears. A sob escaped his throat. By whatever gods there were out there, this </span>
  <em>
    <span>hurt</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He needed help. Where were Aja and his friends? Were they coming back for him? Or was it too difficult and they were going to leave him there?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He </span>
  <em>
    <span>shrieked </span>
  </em>
  <span>when they pulled him open. He looked down, saw his own life core amongst his bright blue blood. For a moment he just stared at it, the thing that kept him alive. Then, his eyes rolled back and he fainted. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He hurt in a line from his chest to his pelvis. He groaned, rolled onto his side. Dried tears crusted on his face. He didn’t want to open his eyes, didn’t want to see this new horror he was in, but he did anyway. He was in a cage that was probably made of a strong glass or some other transparent material. Put on display, like he was an exhibit. He looked down to where the pain was, saw a line of stitches from his collarbone to his pelvis. They’d cut him open and then sewn him back up like it had never happened. He felt at his abdomen. Was anything missing? Had they taken anything from him? Surely his core was still there, or he wouldn’t be alive right now. That was good at least. Maybe. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Krel curled into a ball on the hard ground of his cage. He was cold without his clothing, and he didn’t mind crying. It didn’t seem like anyone was around at the moment. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That’s when he heard a whisper. He looked around, wondering where it had come from. Maybe he’d imagined it. He lowered his head.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It came again, and he recognized what it said this time.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Krel.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Aja?” He looked around. “Where are you?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He jumped as the blade of a serrator suddenly punctured through the top of his cage. A piece fell in, and then Aja was jumping down.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Krel had never been so happy to see his sister in his entire life. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Aja!” He would have jumped up, save for the pain he was in.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sh!” she hissed. “I’m here to get you out.” She kept her voice low. She held out two hands for him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Krel turned, sat up, and Aja stumbled back a little and gasped.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Little brother, what did they do to you?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Krel felt a lump in his throat, something that would possibly keep words from him. “They… they cut me open,” he managed to get out. “They saw my core. They saw everything.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There were tears in Aja’s eyes. “Oh…” She looked demoralized, like she had nothing else to say. She fell to her knees, took Krel’s face in two hands, his shoulders with the other two. “Krel, I’m so sorry we didn’t get here sooner. I’m so, </span>
  <em>
    <span>so </span>
  </em>
  <span>sorry.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Krel didn’t want to dwell on it. He touched one of her wrists. “But you’re here now.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aja nodded. She let go of Krel, wiped the tears from her eyes. “Let’s get you out.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The escape was hard on Krel, given what had happened to him. He was exhausted and it felt like his limbs didn’t want to work. Though, they managed to get out with no one taking them. If they were spotted, Aja handled it with her serrator. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Krel was quick to pull a shirt on when he got back home. Varvatos had stared at his stitches, no words coming from his gaping mouth. He’d just held him, and Krel had been happy for that. He felt safe in Varvatos’ arms. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now, Krel lay in his bed and cried. Not because of the pain, but because of the horror he’d endured. He’d thought humans were better than that. He’d thought they wouldn’t harm other beings. But they had. They’d harmed </span>
  <em>
    <span>him</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Krel understood now, that some people were human, but didn’t have humanity </span>
  <em>
    <span>in </span>
  </em>
  <span>them. They were people with the human part taken out.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A knock on his door. He didn’t even turn his head, just said dismally: “Come in.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aja entered. He knew it by her footsteps. She came and sat on the bed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How… how are you doing?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They’d given him human painkillers, as those seemed to work on them, so Krel was doing a little bit better, but not by much. The emotional wear this had put on him was heavy. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“They’re monsters, Aja,” he said after a time in silence, not answering her question. He’d never believed in monsters, had found no evidence for their existence, but what had happened to him was evidence right there. Human but not human: a monster. How could he trust another human again? What if they </span>
  <em>
    <span>all </span>
  </em>
  <span>wanted to do that to him? What if he was nothing but an experiment to people? His own thoughts and feelings didn’t matter. He was something to be poked and prodded at and cut open. They’d cut him </span>
  <em>
    <span>open</span>
  </em>
  <span>.  “All of them. Monsters.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aja laid a hand on his shoulder. They were both in their regular forms. “Not all of them are monsters,” she said gently. “Our friends-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t want to talk about them.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Krel’s hurt was so deep. The scalpel had cut him to his core, revealed it, and now he hurt there, from both the physical pain and the emotional. He knew emotional pain could be so real, had learned that the day of Morando’s coup, but he’d never felt anything like this before. It was a deep-set horror and hatred beyond comparison. He was nothing to these people. He was just an experiment.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I… can’t go back to school, Aja,” he told her. “I can’t see anyone.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll tell everyone you’re sick,” Aja said. “I understand. Will you come back at all?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe.” Krel didn’t believe himself when he said it. He just wanted to leave himself locked in his room, or somewhere on the mothership where no one could find him, not even Aja. He just wanted to be alone. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I love you, Krel,” Aja said. She squeezed his shoulder, and Krel felt warmth from it. It penetrated his dark mood, but he couldn’t smile at it. “I’m glad you’re back.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, me too.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aja left, closing the door behind her, and Krel painfully got up to lock it. He didn’t want anyone else coming in right now, especially Varvatos. The Taylon hadn’t spoken a word to him. That was fine. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That sorted out, Krel laid down on his bed, gripped at his pillow, and did something very human:</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He cried. </span>
</p>
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